How can I enrol?
To enrol on CertRM as a standalone ACT certificate please complete and return the certificate enrolment & booking form to the ACT by the enrolment deadlines:
30 September for April examination
31 March for October examination
CertRM is recognised as an individual certificate and also counts towards the AMCT Diploma in Treasury - the ACT's core treasury qualification which leads to associate membership. To enrol on CertRM as part of AMCT please complete the AMCT enrolment & booking form or go to the AMCT page for further information.
Entry requirements
- Good standard of english: due to the course being written and examined in English, students will need to possess a good standard of English.
- Internet Browser version: the eLearning website is an important part of this course as you will be able to access the online course manual, discussion forum and further information. Therefore you do need the latest browser to access the content. We suggest one of the following browsers: Internet Explorer 7 or 8, Firefox 3 or Google Chrome to view the content correctly.
Student subscriptions
Students enrolling on ACT Certificates or the AMCT Diploma are required to pay an annual student subscription fee of £125 on a pro-rata basis from the month of enrolment and thereafter a yearly subscription each May.
This provides full student membership benefits including a subscription to The Treasurer magazine, special student rates when attending ACT training courses and events and purchasing the International Treasurer's Handbook plus free access to the ICAEW library and information service.
Course content
An overview of the course content is provided below. For a detailed outline download the full syllabus
Study Unit 1 – Risk and its Management
This study unit introduces risk, its fundamental importance to a company and the sorts of risk that investors expect companies to take. A risk management framework is introduced against a backdrop of corporate finance principles, providing an umbrella methodology for the management of risk and highlighting where different treatment is needed according to the nature of a particular risk.
Study Unit 2 – Financial Market Risk: Interest Rates
No company can escape interest rate risk and this study unit focuses on how interest rate sensitivity and its impact varies according to the type of company and business environment. The study unit provides appropriate responses to each different set of circumstances, introducing the science of the yield curve and the many instruments available for managing interest rate risk, explaining when each might be used.
Study Unit 3 – Financial Market Risk: Foreign Exchange
This study unit explains the different types of foreign exchange risk that can affect a company and how each might be evaluated and responded to. It recognizes that foreign exchange risk may be fundamental to the company and that an appropriate response needs to be drawn up for each type of risk in the context of a company’s broader business and shareholder objectives. It introduces instruments available for managing risk, together with techniques for their use, giving extensive choice to business managers on how to respond to foreign exchange risk.
Study Unit 4 – Financial Risk: Liquidity
All companies have liquidity risk (the risk of the inability to make required payments company wide as they fall due) and this risk arises from many different sources. The principles for managing liquidity risk are perhaps the most difficult to generalise (as companies’ funding arrangements are very individual) but this unit takes an approach similar to that for other risks and provides a structured approach to the management of this particularly difficult but crucial risk.
Study Unit 5 – Other Financial Risks and Issues
Finance professionals are also interested in the management of risk in the counterparties with whom they deal, from customers and suppliers to banks, and also in risks arising from changes in commodity prices (and similarities to foreign exchange risk) and in the capacity to meet pension payments in defined benefit pension schemes and other risks arising from pension schemes. The study unit concludes with the often forgotten issue of operational risk and the internal controls required within treasury departments, together with risk policy and reporting issues arising from the treasury department’s cash management and risk management responsibilities.
Who should take this qualification?
CertRM is relevant for those who:
- Are in the early stages of a treasury career or who wish to join a treasury or risk management team in either a corporate or financial institution
- Wish to gain an understanding of the wider issues dealt with by managing risk on an enterprise-wide basis
- Have responsibility for treasury matters or financial risk management as part of a wider overall role
- Are considering a career in treasury or risk management either domestically or internationally
- Work in financial institutions, where there is a need to understand the corporate environment
- Deal with treasury matters as part of an audit, advisory or consultancy role.
Course objectives
- Demonstrate how financial risk management fits with an organisation's strategy and its overall risk management objectives
- Enable you to identify risks affecting the organisation and to set financial risk management policy and objectives
- Equip you with technical knowledge of enterprise-wide risk management tools and techniques and help you apply this knowledge in your day-today working environment
- Provide an in-depth understanding of how derivatives and other techniques can be used to manage financial risk.
Learning outcomes
You will gain:
- A clear understanding of the essential theories, principles and techniques of financial risk management
- Insight into how to create and maintain shareholder value through the management of risk
- The core knowledge, technical and practical skills required for a role in treasury or corporate financial risk management.
How will I study?
CertRM is a distance learning programme combining self study with optional face-to-face tuition. The study materials are delivered online through the course website, supplemented with a range of online resources designed to support your learning. The online resources for this course include downloadable PDF versions of the course material, practical exercises, self tests and further reading materials. Each study group also has the support of a dedicated course tutor to answer questions, solve problems and offer advice through the online discussion forum. This enables regular interaction with both the course tutor and other students.
What’s included: Access to the e-learning website, study materials, online resources and discussion forum.
You will need: Access to a computer with an internet connection.
This is an ONLINE course therefore you will not receive a hard copy course manual. You can access the course materials as soon as the course website opens. This is usually approximately one week before the course starts.
Optional Supplementary Reading
- Essentials of Financial Risk Management, Karen A. Horcher. Published by Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Derivatives Demystified, Andrew M. Chisholm. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
You may also find it useful to purchase a financial dictionary. Two recommended books are:
- A Dictionary of Finance and Banking. Edited Brian Butler & Alan Isaacs (Oxford Paperbacks)
- Essential Finance: The Essential A-Z. Nigel Gibson (Published by the Economist)
These books can be obtained from bookshops or from www.amazon.co.uk
Tuition and revision
Tuition course: Risk management is a vital topic for the treasurer. Increasingly, treasury initiates as well as implements risk management strategies. This course explores the context of risk management, interest rate maths, hedging instruments and the accounting for those instruments. Whilst predominately concerned with interest rate and foreign currency risk, other risks are considered. The focus of the course is on active learning by attempting lecture examples. This is a fast paced course which students find invaluable, particularly for an understanding of numerical techniques covered.
This course is suitable for you if you want to supplement your online learning with classroom-based teaching.
Revision course: The condensed nature of the revision course makes it particularly valuable to those who have a grasp of the overall subject but require a detailed understanding of techniques and how to apply them in the exam.
This course is suitable for you if you have already attended tuition and want some extra revision support. If you haven't attended tuition, to get the most out of this course you should have worked through all of the CerRM study materials and be in the revision phase of your studies.
You can book onto the optional tuition and revision when you enrol or up to 10 days before the start of the courses.
Dates
Tuition dates for October 2010 exam
Day 1: 01 July 2010
Day 2: 02 July 2010
Day 3: 19 July 2010
Day 4: 20 July 2010
Revision dates for October 2010 exam
Day 1: 31 August 2010
Day 2: 01 September 2010
Day 3: 02 September 2010
How will I be assessed?
Students are assessed by a three-hour written exam.
Pass mark and pass rates
The mark you need to achieve a pass is 50%.
Booking your exam venue
Students are automatically registered to sit the exam in London. If this is where you intend to sit your exam, no further communication with us is necessary.
We have exam venues in Edinburgh, Dublin, Hong Kong and Singapore which you can book. You don’t need to book your exam venue when you enrol, we will write to you 10 weeks before the exam date asking you to select your venue.
If you cannot take your exam at one of the above venues and you live outside of the UK mainland, you can request to take your exam at a venue local to you. It is your responsibility to contact a suitable venue. The first point of contact is the British Council, although Universities and Colleges of Higher Education are also acceptable venues. Further details will be available to you when you enrol as a student.
For students sitting exams at venues other than London, Edinburgh and Dublin, an administration fee will be payable directly to your chosen local exam venue.
ACT faculty membership
Once you have completed CertRM you are eligible to join the Risk Management Faculty, which will continue your involvement with the ACT once you have finished studying and support your continuous professional development.
Benefits include access to a wide range of resources including the knowledge centre with updated CertRM course materials, best practice guidance and the latest technical content as well as The Treasurer magazine. Networking opportunities will also be available through the faculty member directory, discussion forum and ACT regional group events.
Use of the designatory letters, CertRM is exclusive to RM faculty members.
Continuing your studies
As well as a standalone qualification, you may also count CertRM as one of the seven papers that comprise the AMCT Diploma in Treasury: the ACT's core treasury qualification which leads to associate membership and use of the designatory letters AMCT.
Frequently asked questions
These frequently asked question pages answer generic questions on our qualifications processes and rules which are applicable across the range of our products.
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